A North Florida congressional district that was held by a Black Democrat before it was dismantled by Ron DeSantis could be restored in 2024 under a new agreement

• An agreement could potentially restore a North Florida House dismantled by DeSantis, per Politico.
• The district in question was represented by Democrat Al Lawson, a veteran Black lawmaker.

Last year, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature pushed for a congressional map that would gave their party a sizable edge in the 2022 midterms.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis, who's currently running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, wasn't satisfied, submitting a map that dismantled the plurality-Black congressional district of then-Democratic Rep. Al Lawson. The move created surrounding districts that were significantly more Republican. After the Florida Supreme Court left DeSantis' map in place for the 2022 midterms, the GOP picked up four House seats, giving them a commanding 20-8 statewide edge.

But an ongoing legal challenge to the state's congressional maps has produced an agreement that could restore Lawson's North Florida district for the 2024 election, according to Politico.

An agreement between Florida and the groups challenging the DeSantis-drawn congressional map would not halt litigation over the boundaries, but it would narrow the ongoing suit to Lawson's district. Under the agreement, the plaintiffs would have to end their challenges to districts in the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas, respectively, per the report.

Another lawsuit involving the congressional maps is currently in federal court.

Olivia Mendoza, the director of litigation and policy for the National Redistricting Foundation, praised the tentative agreement as one that would restore an element of fairness back to the congressional map.

"This is a promising step forward for Black voters whose voting power was disgracefully targeted by Gov. DeSantis in his quest for artificial power," she said in a statement to Politico. "Floridians deserve fair maps — and success in this case will deliver a major step in that direction."

Florida Republican Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a defendant in the lawsuit, told Politico that he wouldn't comment on pending litigation but added: "The stipulation speaks for itself."

A contingent of groups including Black Voters Matter, Equal Ground, Florida Rising, and the League of Women Voters of Florida sued the state over the congressional maps one day after DeSantis signed them into law. They alleged he had used the bully pulpit of his office to push legislative Republicans into accepting his version.

A trial was set to be held late in August, but attorneys for the plaintiffs, along with the DeSantis administration and the Florida legislature, crafted a plan to limit the scope of the trial.

The trial is now set to focus on whether the redistricting law approved by Florida votes violates the equal protection clause. It will not include arguments over whether or not several districts were constructed to boost Republicans.

Under the Fair Districts provision approved by voters, districts can't be formulated in a manner that would "diminish" the opportunity for minority voters to select a candidate of their choice. But when DeSantis submitted his own map, he tore apart Lawson's 5th Congressional District, which ran from areas west of Tallahassee to Jacksonville.

DeSantis said Lawson's district was unconstitutional, arguing that it was an illegal racial gerrymander.

A recent decision from the US Supreme Court where the conservative-dominated body ruled against weakening protections of the Voting Rights Act may have given the plaintiffs a major boost in their efforts to challenge the DeSantis-drawn map.

In the agreement that was filed late last week, attorneys for the governor and the legislature stated that "none of the enacted districts in North Florida are districts in which Black voters have the ability to elect their preferred candidates."

Lawson, who ran for reelection in 2022 and lost to Neal Dunn in the heavily 2nd Republican district, told Politico on Saturday he would think about running for Congress again should his old district be restored to a configuration similar to the district that he represented before last year's midterms.